Where did Tino Martinez cross the line?

MIAMI Marlins' special assistant Jeff Conine was in on some of Jack McKeon's mound conferences. Somehow, his ears didn't bleed.

"I mean, wow" Conine said. "He was getting in guys' faces big time. That's always been a part of the game that I knew, so that's why I can't really say what's different about this situation. I don't know what was said. I don't know how it was said."

The situation to which Conine referred is Tino Martinez's resignation Sunday. Martinez admitted to using strong language on multiple occasions and grabbing rookie Derek Dietrich in anger by the jersey. The incident, which occurred almost three months ago, recently came to the Marlins' attention. It was deemed severe enough that the Players' Association was notified and cost Martinez his job.

"My A-ball coach, if you had two days worth of the stuff he would say to me, you would not believe it," Conine said. "You wouldn't say something like that to your worst enemy ever, but I think you learn from that."

No one on Monday accused Derek Dietrich of being soft or absolved Martinez of wrong doing.

One team member said he never heard of Martinez putting his hands on anyone else, but several players complained about him. That raises questions about the line between tough love and verbal/physical abuse.

An assistant football coach can yank a player by the facemask and berate him on national television, and it's acceptable. Is the baseball culture that much different?

"We're all men here, too," veteran Greg Dobbs said. "I think there is in all sports a line to be crossed, yes. What that line is depends on who and what you're dealing with, personalities you're dealing with. First and foremost, you have to take into consideration you're standing with a team, your tenure with the team, your job and what's right and wrong, and how that's going to be perceived by others.

"I've had coaches get in my dish plenty of times. That's part of it…In the case of Dietrich, he felt that personally crossed his line, his boundary. He has that right and obviously [the Marlins] agreed because they accepted [Martinez's] resignation."

Dobbs, Jeff Mathis and Chris Coghlan were among those who never had issues with Martinez. Sunday, Martinez admitted to trying to be the heavy with the young guys and he should have used better judgment in his actions.

More so than anything he said, the issue was Martinez making what Dietrich and the Marlins considered unprofessional physical contact. Redmond said once that happened the line was crossed.

Added Mathis: "You see Bobby Knight and the way he used to do it. You don't want to compare that and say 'OK, well he did it' and 'It's OK for him to do it.' You just don't know how the guy is going to react. Everybody is different."